1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improvement in the Jai-Alai Cesta which is a handheld device for throwing and catching a small hard ball as it caroms off a three-walled court.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Jai-Alai is a super fast version of the three-walled Handball whereby players use two-foot long curved wicker baskets called Cestas. Strapped to the player's arm, the cesta is used to catch a very hard lively ball as it comes off the wall and, in nearly the same movement, fling it back to the front wall for the opponent player to catch and throw back.
Heretofore, traditional Jai-Alai cestas were expensively custom-made for each individual player's specifications and are handmade from imported reed strips and wood materials. They have a handglove portion, where normally, the right hand of a player is inserted and the wrist is strapped for the cesta's handling and control, and for preventing it from slipping off the arm in usage. Because of the unique shape of the traditional cesta and the position of the strapped hand spread flat on the surface of the glove portion, which is located at the back-end of the cesta, a player needs a finely synchronized arm swing and body motions to be able to catch and throw the hard ball properly. All novices in the game, who are adept in other sports at using rackets, like Tennis, Racquetball, Squash, etc., find it very difficult to get used to Jai-Alai and to learn the skill required to control and master the traditional cesta. Furthermore, it is much more difficult for them to gain the ability to impart a spin (english) to the ball, which is one of the novelty shots in the game. This is due to the very shallow ridges in the ball's pathway along the internal surface of the traditional cesta, defined by the thickness of the thin reed strips webbed across its wooden ribs. These ridges are less than 1/64th of an inch high. Considering that the hard ball's diameter is about 2 inches, there is just not enough mechanical means to provide the spin (english) on it in a novice's swing. A proficient player though, through experience, adds a snap of the wrist to his/her shots to effect the desired english. However, the new player has to spend a lot of time and hard training to be able to do this. Also, if catches are misplaced, the player is exposed to a high risk of being hit by the speeding hard ball, travelling at approximately 150 miles per hour since the maximum distance of the ball-receiving area (scoop) from the player's body is only an arm's length during the catching action. This very poor margin of safety could, therefore, cause severe injury specially to new players just learning to position themselves correctly in the court.
The glove version of strapping the player's wrist to the traditional cesta has also these additional disadvantages:
(a) Since the game is fast paced and points are made in a matter of seconds, and the players normally rotate between their turns at play, the glove version is very inconvenient for the players who might need a quick rest and ventilation of their sweating playing hands. This is due to the considerable amount of time involved in removing the device and putting it back on.
(b) The standard cesta is fairly limited in its interchangeability between right-handed and left-handed persons, and is not readily adjustable to fit different sizes of hands.
(c) the permanent position of the hand in the glove portion of the standard cesta limits the variation of shots and catches available to the player.
(d) The strap (cesta) tightly wound around the player's wrist exerts a tremendous pressure on it during usage, impeding proper blood circulation in the player's arm causing pressure pains, cramps, and numbness to the hand.
(e) the lack of ventilation inside the glove portion creates profuse sweating of the hand.
U.S. Pat. No. 642,638 is an old version of the traditional cesta now used by Jai-Alai professional players. The interior surface of this cesta is formed by weaving wicker-work strips over sidebars and across several longitudinal member slats composing the main body. Shallow ridges are produced inside the scoop by the overlapping of the woven wicker strips and the longitudinal members without forming concave indentations in the interior surface of the cesta. This basket's natural tendency is to "give" during the impact of the ball when it is caught, preventing the ball from readily bouncing out of the basket. This is due mainly to the main scoop or basket of the cesta being formed from several independent longitudinal members or slats which have been held together by the wicker-work strips, thus, giving the slats room to flex during the impact of catching the ball. The manufacturing process for this design is very labor intensive, complicated and very expensive.
Two other similarly formed cestas are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,098,508 and 4,273,339, except that both of these disclosed devices are made of plastic material instead of the traditional reed strips and wooden materials. The general difference between these two is that the former incorporates a lining of a resilient material secured in the ball-receiving scoop to help absorb the impact of the ball and hopefully facilitate catching and preventing it from bouncing out of the cesta. The manufacture of a cesta of this design is complicated and expensive since several types of materials are required resulting in a bulky and heavy cesta. Also, its hand-securing means is comprised of slots in the hand-receiving section whereby straps of flexible material are webbed through to form loops for securing each individual fingers of the player's hand to the glove secton of the cesta. This is to facilitate the fitting of different sizes of player's hands. The problem in this design is that it is very complicated, needs a lot of different holes and slots in the cesta itself, and requires a number of different materials, making it very expensive to manufacture. Furthermore, although this loop version of finger attachment allows the playing hand to breathe and may well be adjustable to different sizes of hands, it is very uncomfortable to use since the loops exert a lot of localized pressure in the areas of the fingers and wrist where the loops rest, ultimately causing pressure pains. Also, the strap (cesta) has not been well designed to be secure enough to counteract the tremendous centrifugal force that naturally develops in a player's swing to prevent the cesta from flying off the player's arm.
On the other hand, the cesta of U.S. Pat. No. 4,273,339 is formed from a one-piece polystyrene material having out-turned flanged portions in the edges of its ball-receiving scoop covered with slidable U-shaped plastic strip stiffeners serving as a brace, and a glove member including two rectangular cloth layers sewed together to provide finger openings. Control of the ball's path in throwing and catching it is very difficult in this cesta because of its smooth internal surface and it, definitely, has no capability to impart a spin (english) to the hard ball. In addition, this design does not offer much shock or impact absorbsion when catching the ball, and, therefore it has poor ball retention characteristics. Another is the CESTA BALL marketed by Brunswick which is similar to the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,273,339 but smaller in dimension. Since each of these cestas necessitates a wrist strap (cesta) for securing the cesta to the player's arm, they, therefore, have all of the disadvantges of the traditional cesta discussed above which poses a big problem to Jai-Alai enthusiasts.
Several other versions of devices with handles used for throwing and catching projectiles are exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,022,186, 1,530,573, 2,670,958, 2,710,753, 3,170,688, and 4,045,026.
There are also some toys patterned crudely after the Jai-Alai basket and LaCrosse stick, albeit in smaller dimensions. One of these is a toy made of molded polyethelene plastic with a plain solid surface resembling a miniature trough bent forward in an arc with a short cylindrical hollow handle at the bottom of one end. This end of the arc adjacent to the top of the handle, has a funnel-like pocket whose main functions are to block the ball's trajectory once inside it and to carry the ball for a length of time after catching it through the other end, which is open and serves, also, as the launching pad of the light plastic ball used with it.
Another toy trademarked "Jai-lite" and a Jai-Alai-like basket but without the long snout which forms the J-like figure of a traditional cesta. It is formed from a wire-sized wicker material woven together resembling a very narrow spoon. Instead of using a glove for securing it to the hand, it has a rectangular member made of the same wicker material, the ends of which are attached to the side braces of the basket, forming a sort of an arch or a bridge over the surface of the glove portion. The intention is to hold down the palm of the hand, which is supposed to be inserted inside this arch, and prevent it from slipping-off during usage, however, the size of the gap or slot created by this arch containing the hand is much too loose and unadjustable plus there are numberous sharp ends of the woven wicker at the web joints protruding on the surface which could easily injure a bare hand when it is inserted into this arch.
Another one of these toys is one whose basket is made up of several bowed rattan ribs which has been handcrafted to form a spoon-like scoop with a short cylindrical handle. However, like a LaCrosse stick, all of these devices are used specifically for catching and throwing mostly rubber or very light plastic balls directly between the players in an open field, and are not suited for playing in a three-walled court as in Jai-Alai. For this reason, almost all of them incorporate a ball-cradling section or pouch adjacent to the uppermost part of the handle to enable the retention of the ball for a considerable length of time while the player is running in the field and is preparing to throw the ball to another player. This feature is totally unnecessary in a Jai-Alai cesta where a shot is required to be made within a split second of a catch in one swing of the arm.
What is needed to overcome each of the above-discussed problems and shortcomings is a Jai-Alai cesta which can be mass produced of a molded semi-flexible material or plastic, incorporating a long handle, a whip or a flexible hand securing means with finger slots, and a uniquely molded catching surface of high-impact absorbing capability without custom fit gloved portion and uncomfortable wrist strap. If a device incorporating these features could be produced, there would be a simple, safe, efficient, durable, convenient, but easily affordable Jai-Alai device which practically everyone interested in Jai-Alai could use in any conventional walled court, and be able to learn the basics of the proper arm swings necessary to make a variety of shots using a hard ball in a minimal amount of time, and with minimal effort, and training. This would also standardize the cesta and allow for universal fit from player to player eliminating the need for custom made cestas. This also will put the players on equal footing, equipment wise, making Jai-Alai strictly a contest of skill between players. It is believed that the cesta of the present invention provides such a device.